Yeh for me tuning is what really "locks" the kick into the track and I never really ed around with tuning kicks for the first 8 years of producing which was a huge mistake.
People always told me to do it by ear but I just couldn't tell when it was on key 100%. The odd thing however is I can tell pretty fast when a kicks off key. I am just never sure tuning it by ear when its officially tuned right. It always use to seem to be off a few tones no matter how hard I tried.
Now I use FL's detect pitch regions, set the key and then just adjust in FL's piano roll. Last night I had a kick that was G#, a GREAT kick, also sounded great in the mix. Very huge sounding and had real nice transients/teeth that cut through the mix. But tuning back & forth it just never sounded pro and I couldn't set it right. The key of the track itself was G. I had no idea the kick was already that close to key. And doing it by ear I could not tell it was a sharp key. Once I have the mix set how I want, I always have to worry that the kick will be too far off key as it seems if I tune it more than 2-3 keys from its root it never sounds right. But this kick was not only great sounding off key, but it also only had to be tuned a half a semitone to get it on key. Once I moved it from G# to G I was like "WOW, *that* sounds professional FINALLY!" I just think tuning kicks is awesome because for year after year after year I layered kicks, went INSANE on equalizer settings, compression settings, even overdrive getting them to sound "right". And it turns out after all these years it really wasn't any of that but my kicks were just always off key. So yeh, I get excited like a little school girl now when I tune things, I just love doing it. But on the other hand when it comes to a lot of drum sounds I rarely mess with tuning. Unless its a fat perc sound that has some sort of dominating tone. Otherwise I guess I mostly just do it on my kicks, as I have found that is one thing that will definitely suffer if its not somewhat on key. And I also understand kicks are a mix of different keys, but there is still always a dominating pitch that FL is able to detect. And when I use that main pitch (which is usually right after the attack phase of the kick its the longest stable/nonchanging pitch region of the kick) my kicks always come out sounding perfect (at least in that specific mix which is all that matters).
Beatflux
quote:
Originally posted by DJ Robby Rox
Yeh for me tuning is what really "locks" the kick into the track and I never really ed around with tuning kicks for the first 8 years of producing which was a huge mistake.
People always told me to do it by ear but I just couldn't tell when it was on key 100%. The odd thing however is I can tell pretty fast when a kicks off key. I am just never sure tuning it by ear when its officially tuned right. It always use to seem to be off a few tones no matter how hard I tried.
Now I use FL's detect pitch regions, set the key and then just adjust in FL's piano roll. Last night I had a kick that was G#, a GREAT kick, also sounded great in the mix. Very huge sounding and had real nice transients/teeth that cut through the mix. But tuning back & forth it just never sounded pro and I couldn't set it right. The key of the track itself was G. I had no idea the kick was already that close to key. And doing it by ear I could not tell it was a sharp key. Once I have the mix set how I want, I always have to worry that the kick will be too far off key as it seems if I tune it more than 2-3 keys from its root it never sounds right. But this kick was not only great sounding off key, but it also only had to be tuned a half a semitone to get it on key. Once I moved it from G# to G I was like "WOW, *that* sounds professional FINALLY!" I just think tuning kicks is awesome because for year after year after year I layered kicks, went INSANE on equalizer settings, compression settings, even overdrive getting them to sound "right". And it turns out after all these years it really wasn't any of that but my kicks were just always off key. So yeh, I get excited like a little school girl now when I tune things, I just love doing it. But on the other hand when it comes to a lot of drum sounds I rarely mess with tuning. Unless its a fat perc sound that has some sort of dominating tone. Otherwise I guess I mostly just do it on my kicks, as I have found that is one thing that will definitely suffer if its not somewhat on key. And I also understand kicks are a mix of different keys, but there is still always a dominating pitch that FL is able to detect. And when I use that main pitch (which is usually right after the attack phase of the kick its the longest stable/nonchanging pitch region of the kick) my kicks always come out sounding perfect (at least in that specific mix which is all that matters).
Could you post an A/B example? The kick I am using now decays extremely quickly and doesn't really settle on pitch either at the beginning or end of it.
The track I am referencing, "So Much Love" has one of those kicks that has a bit of sustain at the end of it, and both the kick and the bass are tuned to G.
Richard Butler
I've not heard any producer here manage to make a kick this good.
Some will say it's just standard, to wit I say you aren't listening carefully enough.
Von Pistol
that song has some wicked flow. Michael Woods is pretty sick all around!
Beatflux
quote:
Originally posted by Richard Butler
I've not heard any producer here manage to make a kick this good.
Some will say it's just standard, to wit I say you aren't listening carefully enough.
Jesus Christ. What a track that builds up to nothing.
Anakratis
quote:
Originally posted by Beatflux
Jesus Christ. What a track that builds up to nothing.
:haha:
I hate those...
Stef
quote:
Originally posted by Beatflux
Jesus Christ. What a track that builds up to nothing.
:stongue: :stongue:
Richard Butler
quote:
Originally posted by Beatflux
Jesus Christ. What a track that builds up to nothing.
See I love it, the payload for me is in the dramatic contrast between break and drop, and I find I'm much more moved to dance by a bassline that remains on 1 note.
Beatflux
quote:
Originally posted by Richard Butler
See I love it, the payload for me is in the dramatic contrast between break and drop, and I find I'm much more moved to dance by a bassline that remains on 1 note.
It's not even about the specific format or bassline; the song was arranged from 2-3 minutes of material and very little thought of how the track was going to evolve over time was put in. There is almost no kind of musical development after each drop.
A track that gets the drop format right:
dj_alfi
Oooh the kicks are hard lol. You'd think it'd be the easiest part as it's the only thing "normal" people hear when they hear our music :P
Von Pistol
is there any way to detect pitch in fl 7? the edison doesnt have that feature. or is it only in full program, not the demo lol
Originally posted by Von Pistol
is there any way to detect pitch in fl 7? the edison doesnt have that feature. or is it only in full program, not the demo lol
